Former featherweight king Barry McGuigan, writing in his usual column for The Mirror, praises Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue, and the Irish legend says he feels “The Monster” could go as high as super featherweight before he’s done. McGuigan, like the rest of us, has been mightily impressed by 31-year-old Inoue, a modern-day great who has already won world titles at four weights.
McGuigan says Inoue might be “the hardest pound-for-pound puncher in the world” right now, and the former champ who lit up the lower weights of the sport himself back in the 1980s adds of Inoue how “his progression from light-flyweight world champion to super-bantamweight king is unlike anything I have seen in my lifetime.”
“And he does not look like he is stopping there,” Barry added.
Like so many fans, McGuigan would like to see Inoue box in the US again, and McGuigan would also like to see Inoue invade not only the featherweight division, but also the 130 pound division.
“Some think he can’t go higher. I disagree. I think he can go up again because he has the dimensions to do it. He probably hits with the power of a super-lightweight,” McGuigan writes. “He looks like he’s not doing much or even trying hard. He has a good physique but not one that suggests explosive power. At light-flyweight, he was crammed in. He doesn’t look overly big now, but he has carried his power forward. Who knows what the limit is? He might even reach super-featherweight. It’s truly remarkable.”
It really would be quite something if Inoue were able to move up TWO more weight divisions and conquer both. Inoue a six-weight world champion? It is possible, as McGuigan points out. As for Inoue boxing again in America, this is on the cards for next year. In contrast, the big one – as in the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history – is a potential thriller in the form of Inoue Vs. Junto Nakatani. That fight, if/when it happens, will surely take place in Japan, maybe at The Tokyo Dome.
But McGuigan says Inoue is now a “global figure” and, therefore, needs to fight outside of Japan.
“I get it. If you are packing out halls in Japan, you are going to want to stay there, in front of a big crowd that supports you,” McGuigan continues in his column. “But he is a global figure now. He needs to export that talent so we can all appreciate him for the absolute rock star he is.”
Agreed.
Inoue, 28-0(25) has boxed in the UK before, and how great would it be for we UK fight fans if he did so again? This may be unlikely, however. Still, a “celebration” fight in Vegas beckons, as Bob Arum said earlier this week. For sure, Naoya Inoue now has the full attention of the whole world.
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